CHINA ACCUSES US OF BEING ‘LEADING INSTIGATOR OF UKRAINE CRISIS’

Fri 01 April 2022:

China has accused the United States of instigating the war in Ukraine and said NATO should have been disbanded following the break-up of the Soviet Union.

“As the culprit and leading instigator of the Ukraine crisis, the US has led NATO to engage in five rounds of eastward expansion in the last two decades after 1999,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters at a daily briefing.

“The number of NATO members increased from 16 to 30, and they have moved eastward more than 1,000km (600 miles) to somewhere near the Russian border, pushing Russia to the wall step by step,” he added.

The comments came as European Council President Charles Michel, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell sought signs that Chinese President and Communist Party leader Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang would help to end the war in Ukraine amid fears that China is undermining Western efforts to isolate Russia through sanctions and diplomatic measures.

“China disapproves of solving problems through sanctions, and we are even more opposed to unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction that have no basis in international law,” Mr Zhao said.

European Union leaders had been looking for ways to ensure Beijing would help end the war which has seen 10m people displaced and intense shelling of civillian areas.

“The international community notably China and the EU have a mutual responsibility to use their joint influence and diplomacy to bring an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine and the associated humanitarian crisis,” Mr Michel tweeted ahead of the talks.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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